Analysts: 'Ready for GE' remark signals Umno more stable than others
A photo (above) of Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Najib Abdul Razak at the former's residence indirectly shows that Umno is more stable than PKR and Bersatu, said political analysts.
Azmi Hassan from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) opined that Najib, who is the former president of Umno, will now be more active in party politics.
"It's important for Najib and Zahid to show that Umno is solid without internal conflicts, unlike Bersatu and PKR.
A photo (above) of Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Najib Abdul Razak at the former's residence indirectly shows that Umno is more stable than PKR and Bersatu, said political analysts.
Azmi Hassan from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) opined that Najib, who is the former president of Umno, will now be more active in party politics.
"It's important for Najib and Zahid to show that Umno is solid without internal conflicts, unlike Bersatu and PKR.
"The signal is that Umno, with or without Perikatan Nasional, is ready to face the 15th general election," Azmi told Malaysiakini.
Zahid, who is the current Umno president, uploaded several pictures with Najib, Najib's brother Nazim Razak and Titiwangsa Umno Youth chief Nazir Hussain Aktar Hussain.
"Yesterday evening, Najib and other guests visited me at my residence. Thank you.
"We are ready for the 15th general election. Are you all ready to be with us?" the caption reads.
Azmi said Umno declined to fully rely on PN and that it only views the cooperation with Bersatu as temporary.
"The apparent signal to Bersatu is that it's not necessarily that Umno would become friendly with Bersatu during the general election.
"There's a possibility that they will compete with each other," Azmi said.
Umno doesn't need Bersatu to attract Malay support
Ilham Centre research chief Mohd Yusri Ibrahim, on the other hand, said that Umno is opposed to form PN as a formal coalition as Bersatu does not add value in terms of attracting Malay support.
"This is an initial attack in a series of psychological warfare which will prolong.
"Umno has fully exploited the current political instability for its own benefit.
"In fact, it can be said that Umno created the instability within PN when it refused to officially form the coalition."
Yusri said Harapan, on the other hand, has to realise that Umno is working towards having snap polls in the near future.
Prior to this, Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan had pointed out that PN is not a registered coalition and that Umno has not been part of it.
"With the strength in the number of Malay support, Umno thought that the combination of Barisan Nasional and Muafakat Nasional would offer them a huge opportunity in the next general election.
"They don't need Bersatu," Yusri added.
BN consists of Umno, MCA, and MIC; while Muafakat Nasional is a coalition between Umno and PAS.
Yusri said if snap polls were to be held, former Harapan leaders in the government even risk being totally wiped out from the political radar.
Meanwhile, Shamsul Amri Baharuddin (photo) from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia viewed the meeting between Najib and Zahid as an effort to ease the internal conflict within the party.
Shamsul Amri said Umno itself is unstable when there are camps within the party led by their respective senior leaders.
"They are worried about their influence. Their situation is like what we call a 'stable tension' - stable but tense.
"The meeting was to loosen the tension," he said.
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